Stock982v
Member
Hey everyone I have a 1998 mustang gt , and I have new front control arms to be put in , but as most people I want to save my money and do it myself , can anyone give me the steps, useful tips? TIA
Control arm replacement
- Thread starter Stock982v
- Start date
Frank.JD.Perez
Legend
You're gonna need a lot of patients, wd-40 and be ready to do a lot of :rage: ...
You're gonna have to take off the spindle and that won't been fun. Getting that guy off the ball joints is a pain.
You're gonna have to take off: calipers, rotors, unfortunately spindle from control arms which means removal of struts from spindle. Take off the swaybar bar and the tie rods from the arms too. Since you're doing it i would also recommend getting new sway bar bushings as well as sway bar end links. I'm assuming you have new ball joints for the new control arms too if they aren't already on the arms. And out of curiosity why are you replacing them? You're gonna need new bolts and nuts for the arms too since you "CANNOT" reuse the ones on already. Head over to lmr and pick up the bolts. They're a stupid price but they're perfect for what you're doing assuming you haven't picked them up already. Since this will be your first time expect this project to take about a days time if you're doing it alone. Let those bolts soak in wd-40. They aren't gonna want to move. Be aware of the spring too because it will want to unload. Make sure you put the Jack under the arm when taking off the struts. That way it won't shoot out which is no bueno.
So I guess if I were to say a "step by step"
-Loosen the lugs
-Lift up the car
-Put stands under the k member near the oil pan
-Take off the brake set up (calipers and rotors)
-Take off the end links and the tie rods while it's still for the most part attached (using a mallet or a dead blow will help with the tie rod. Put the nut on upside down and give it some love to get it out)
-Once the tie rod and end links are off then put your Jack under the control arm where the spring sits and lift it up to sit close to flush (even) so there isn't a whole lot of "slack"
-Remove the strut from the spindle
-Once the strut is off move it out of the way and then let the Jack lower so you can let the spring unload to take out
-Then take out the spring with a crow bar assuming it's stock
-Then take the spindle off the arm using the same technique as the tie rod ends (bolt upside down and loving taps. It helps to have the Jack under the arms so they won't move a whole lot while you try to murder...uhmm... remove the spindle)
-Then once you have the spindle out and it's just the control arm and k member hopefully you started off with applying a but load of wd-40. *Make sure not only that your car is up high enough but that you have room to apply enough torque to loosen and then remove the nuts and bolts
This won't be fun. Trust me, I've worked on the front end suspension on both my cars way too much, but it's still fun to me when I'm doing it because of an adjustment or upgrade. When it's to fix something.... yeah, lots of :rage:
Hope that helps bud. And anyone else feel free to correct me if you believe there's a better/easier/ less :rage: inducing methods
You're gonna have to take off the spindle and that won't been fun. Getting that guy off the ball joints is a pain.
You're gonna have to take off: calipers, rotors, unfortunately spindle from control arms which means removal of struts from spindle. Take off the swaybar bar and the tie rods from the arms too. Since you're doing it i would also recommend getting new sway bar bushings as well as sway bar end links. I'm assuming you have new ball joints for the new control arms too if they aren't already on the arms. And out of curiosity why are you replacing them? You're gonna need new bolts and nuts for the arms too since you "CANNOT" reuse the ones on already. Head over to lmr and pick up the bolts. They're a stupid price but they're perfect for what you're doing assuming you haven't picked them up already. Since this will be your first time expect this project to take about a days time if you're doing it alone. Let those bolts soak in wd-40. They aren't gonna want to move. Be aware of the spring too because it will want to unload. Make sure you put the Jack under the arm when taking off the struts. That way it won't shoot out which is no bueno.
So I guess if I were to say a "step by step"
-Loosen the lugs
-Lift up the car
-Put stands under the k member near the oil pan
-Take off the brake set up (calipers and rotors)
-Take off the end links and the tie rods while it's still for the most part attached (using a mallet or a dead blow will help with the tie rod. Put the nut on upside down and give it some love to get it out)
-Once the tie rod and end links are off then put your Jack under the control arm where the spring sits and lift it up to sit close to flush (even) so there isn't a whole lot of "slack"
-Remove the strut from the spindle
-Once the strut is off move it out of the way and then let the Jack lower so you can let the spring unload to take out
-Then take out the spring with a crow bar assuming it's stock
-Then take the spindle off the arm using the same technique as the tie rod ends (bolt upside down and loving taps. It helps to have the Jack under the arms so they won't move a whole lot while you try to murder...uhmm... remove the spindle)
-Then once you have the spindle out and it's just the control arm and k member hopefully you started off with applying a but load of wd-40. *Make sure not only that your car is up high enough but that you have room to apply enough torque to loosen and then remove the nuts and bolts
This won't be fun. Trust me, I've worked on the front end suspension on both my cars way too much, but it's still fun to me when I'm doing it because of an adjustment or upgrade. When it's to fix something.... yeah, lots of :rage:
Hope that helps bud. And anyone else feel free to correct me if you believe there's a better/easier/ less :rage: inducing methods
lutter94
Well-Known Member
Can't reuse control arm bolts? Why not? I had at least one of them off (each side) when I put the B springs in. Now I just replaced control arms. They seem fine when I removed them.
Frank.JD.Perez
Legend
ive removed one before too, but had this set handy because i was gonna completely replace the bushings but didnt. so yeah i re-used the bolts but Ford recommends replacing due to a one time use thing
https://lmr.com/item/HDW-3075A/1979-04-Mustang-Front-Lower-Control-Arm-Hardware-Kit
[FONT=&]"The original hardware used on 1979-2004 Mustang Front Lower Control Arms is one time use only, according to Ford. Don't take chances! Use new hardware when assembling your Mustang! This 5.0 Resto kit includes 4 front control arm bolts & 4 control arm nuts, enough to attach both front lower control arms."[/FONT]
Stock982v
Member
Hey man thanks for your help, I'm replacing the whole arm because the ball joints arm at the end of their times lol , so I bought control arms from lmr that comes with ball joint and bushings pretty installed.
Stock982v
Member
Hey man thanks for your help, I'm replacing the whole arm because the ball joints arm at the end of their times lol , so I bought control arms from lmr that comes with ball joint and bushings pretty installed.
Frank.JD.Perez
Legend
good stuff. ive had to replace my ball joints twice. not fun and even less fun when one fails on you while driving...ask me how i know..
Stock982v
Member
How do you know ...
Frank.JD.Perez
Legend
I've had one fail on me before while driving and making a turn...was not fun... luckily for me I was real close to my house. But that usually isn't that nice of a scenario. I totally lucked out and had someone looking over me
lutter94
Well-Known Member
How long did the 1st replacements last???
Frank.JD.Perez
Legend
to be honest im not too sure...it took me awhile to figure out the popping sound i had was the balljoints but i also had lots of harsh driving wit the crap roads here so maybe a year? idk
Similar threads
